Istanbul : final day

Aariz was asleep through the Topkapi tour, and woke up just in time when we finished the touring. It was about lunchtime, we wanted to find a restaurant not at tourist rip off place. We met a Malaysian family, resided in UK, and they told us about a good restaurant located at Hocapasa (near Sirkeci)

Sirkeci is only 3 tram stations away from Sultanahmet, so we opted to walk. It's good to walk sometimes, for it  gives much more scenery than sardine-packed crowd inside the tram. Along the way, we passed shops, cafes and restaurants.

We don't have the map of this area, we just followed the verbal instruction. And afraid of losing the track, we asked local " Where's Balkan?" It is a good restaurant, cheap, but tucked away from tourist. The local know of coz=)

lunch at Balkan

The local people is too friendly, sometimes 3 or 4 person were willingly to help us with direction =) Walaupun derang cakap tak faham, kena senyumm =D But this time we opted the tram to Beyazit station, should reach Beyazit mosque for Zohor. Lepas solat baru seronok berjalan.

 Beyazit mosque located between Grand Bazaar and the University of Istanbul main gate

I'm not very keen for shopping when travelling (sebab I lagi suka makan!), but Grand Bazaar was in my list too. Grand Bazaar is the oldest and largest covered markets in the world! It has 3000 shops and the constructions began in 1455.  The Ottoman had interest in textile trading, and today jewellery, leather goods, ceramic, carpets and much more are put on shelves.

We bought the turkish tea, tshirt and fridge magnets, hee typical tourist. Oh and fresh orange juice. Sedap sangat diminum dalam cuaca panas tu.

 After Grand Bazaar, we went back again to the Eminonu, our favorite place of all I must say. Best sangat lepak dan makan kat sini.

Yenii Camii was in front of me, (nak sangat solat disini sebelum balik UK)

and behind me ..

Galata bridge and the Galata tower.

Happening sangat tempat ni. Kat sinilah we all naik Bosphorus cruise on our first day in Istanbul.

Balik Ekmek, the fish sandwich yang sampai sekarang teringat2

 Sebab tadi dah jamak Zohor-Asar, we all solat sunat saja di Yenii cami (New Mosque)

Good bye Istanbul, we will be back again inshaaAllah

sampai UK

Thank you Easyjet for your best service and price =) 

Memories are made of these ; 7th July

July is my favorite month. 7th July is our anniversary day, my mum's birthday, my SIL and my nephew's birthday. Oh 7th July is blessed. On 20th July is Aariz's birthday too =) On July I became a wife and a mother literally.

I didn't have a chance to post on 7th July, because we were 'disconnected'. We went to the Lake District to celebrate our 5th anniversary..oh myy, we love Windermere! The best anniversary celebration ever =)

Windermere cruise

afternoon tea overlooking the Windermere

can't wait to update on everything!

Happy Anniversary abang, you rock my world!

Beatrix Potter's Lake District

Remember our trip to Windermere in Lake District, which we accidentally got stuck in the snow?

Remember when Aariz meeting Peter at the lovely Beatrix Potter World, where all the animals characters brought to live?

But I never tell you about Beatrix, what a shame. I should share a little bit about her remarkable life journey. Or anyone who've watched Miss Potter film, starring Renee Zelweger and the handsome Ewon McGregor.


The Life and Work of Beatrix Potter..

Beatrix Potter was born on July 28th 1866 in London. A typical Victorian family, the Potters lived in a large house with several servants and Beatrix was educated at home under a sequence of governesses. Beatrix first visited the Lake District with her family in the summer of 1882 and she went on to spend many happy childhood holidays in the region. She and her brother Bertram explored the woods and fields, caught and tamed wild animals and sketched and painted all they saw.

Beatrix’s very first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published by Frederick Warne & Co in 1902, costing just one shilling, and became one of the most famous books ever written. More than 40 million copies of this book have been sold worldwide in more than 35 languages. And many books since then..

With the money she made from her early books she made the Lake District her home and bought Hill Top Farm in the village of Near Sawrey. Managing Hill Top taught Beatrix much about farming and she began to extend her property in the Lake District. A local solicitor William Heelis advised her on her property dealings and was later to become her husband. By the early 1930’s she had bought over 4000 acres of farmland with the money she had made from her 23 tales, many of which were inspired by and written in the Lake District.

Renee portraying Beatrix Potter in Miss Potter movie

Most of her later life was devoted entirely to farming, Herdwick sheep being her passion, and on her death in 1943 she bequeathed all the farmland to the National Trust so that it should remain undeveloped and unspoilt forever...

Well, some people live to inspire..

We love Windermere, and we've promised to come back again =)

Syria Chiffon Double Layer Bermanik RM69

I've been always wanted to produce my own tudung, because by doing so I can ensure that the tudungs meeting standards of high quality, dan yang penting sekali murah and affordable for everyone. It's been a year now for EKC and customer satisfaction is priceless.

Alhamdulillah EKC is now producing tudung under our own label. It couldn't be done without help, ideas and dedication work from my sisters =)

So here's our first collection Syria Samaira, double layer chiffon with manik. I hope you like it and continue giving support to EKC. Feel free to visit and follow EKC www.erniekhairinacollections.com

PRICE : RM 69 (exclude shipping cost/without inner)

MATERIAL : Chiffon Silk (washable)

MEASUREMENT : Free Size

Price is RM69, but for my blog followers and readers is RM65. Just mention it when you place orders. Share lah dengan kawan-kawan ye.. TQ =)

More colors at www.erniekhairinacollections.com

Istanbul: Topkapi palace

Imperial gate

Topkapi is a huge palaces complex, was the primary residence of Ottoman Sultans. Like what I'd imagined, the Imperial gate lead us to another gate to the main entrance of the palaces complex.

the first courtyard..we were on the way to the main entrance (Salutation gate)

 ..bought ticket at 25 TL /pp (RM50), this ticket counter is located just to the right of the Salutation gate

the Salutation gate

(ok la ni, kalau Forbidden city, Beijing first to second gate boleh 2 kilometer hehe)

Upon passing the Salutation gate, we entered he second courtyard. It used as the gathering place, also knownn as the Divan square. So here we found the Imperial Divan, where the ministers held their meetings.

Imperial Divan

This palaces complex is huge, I knew we couldn't cover it all. Masa tu pun dah terlambat ( sebab spent so much time to get our perfect photo with the Blue Mosque haha)  So we straightly went to the Imperial Harem, the private apartment which the family of Sultans resided. Oh yes, one of many things that I adore about Topkapi, the water taps are everywhere. So anyone can do ablution just anywhere .. 

one of the many doors in Harem..the walls are made of tiles.

Apartment of the Queen Mother. As seen is the exhibits representing the Queen Mother and her attendants.

fireplace

grand, beautiful tap..I think they got it in every corner

built in cabinet

Cantik sangat tempat ni..all enriched with flowery motifs tiles, iznik porcelain from the 17th century, the walls are made of marbles or white-washed, stained-glass windows..banyak sangat gambar tak dapat nak upload semua.

Courtyard of the Favourites , the last section in Harem. 

I was sitting outside the Topkapi palace museum. Kat sinilah kami berpeluang tengok sendiri pedang Rasullullah dan sahabat, janggut Rasullullah, kunci Kaabah dan lain-lain. I was deeply touched, overwhelmed emotion that I queued the second time just to 'get close' with Rasullullah. Strictly no camera. 

The Grand kiosk

Topkapi palace is located on the highest points close to the sea, Seraglio Point. The Grand kiosk is a splendid location as reception and resting place, gives the panoramic view of the Marmara sea from the palace.

how I wish to wake up every day with this view!

share audio guide =)

ok soalan senang, apakah nama gate itu?

Istanbul : one fine morning in Istanbul

Day 2 in Istanbul.

I was glad when the thing once was imagined finally in front of me. In Sultanahmet, almost all hotels or B&Bs has their own rooftop breakfast terrace. But of coz I wanted uninterrupted view of the Marmara sea. So what I did was, I chose the one which located nearest to Marmara =)

So this is the view we had during breakfast every day.. So nice!

Bread, cereal, cheese, bread, cereal, cheese..well, I had expected it. I don't mind the foods, janji anak kenyang sudah.

Alhamdulillah Aariz is very easy. He seems has adapted to travelling food, I mean, he's not choosy. Aariz makan je, mummy senang hati =)

As seen behind Aariz is the Blue Mosque.

the Marmara sea.

the Blue Mosque. 

oh my tudung!

In front of our hotel in Sultanahmet..

ok dah kemaskan tudung, now ready to go explore!

Sultanahmet is really the area you should consider to be on top of your list, as based to explore Istanbul. It has all the important sites you don't want to miss. In fact, Sultanahmet is UNESCO World Heritage site. We passed by Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque every day. Dan sesungguhnya tempat ni memang tak pernah lekang dengan pelancong. Never get enough, I must say.

Once more..

Hagia Sophia

the Blue Mosque.

I swear this isn't the first or second, not even third attempt to get a perfect photo. Ramai sangat orang, we all pakai timer ambil gambar..time tulah orang lalu, and buses of coz T_T 

The Topkapi entrance. Located next to Hagia Sophia. Next entry.

Picking berries at Manor farm

Picking berries during summer harvest season is a popular activity. We had picnic potluck among us at a picnic site with children playground. Free entrance to this Manor farm in Tamworth, and 4.17pound per kg of your self picking. Although the prepicked fruits is cheaper, but hey the experiences that count!

comfortable wellies, I'm so gonna wear it for our coming country trekking!

love countryside

posted from Bloggeroid